The present invention relates generally to a vehicular shift apparatus for an automatic transmission mounted on an automotive vehicle, and particularly to a vehicular shift apparatus of shift-by-wire type.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-031149 (JP 2014-031149 A) discloses a vehicular shift apparatus of shift-by-wire type, in which a rotary knob as an operation member is configured to be rotated in a first direction from a home position to a drive position, and rotated in a second direction from the home position to a reverse position. The rotary knob is further provided with a neutral position between the home position and the drive range position, and a neutral position between the home position and the reverse range position. Operation of the rotary knob is sensed by combination of a magnet and a sensing element. The rotary knob is provided with the magnet which is configured to be rotated by rotation of the rotary knob. On the other hand, the sensing element is placed on a board to face the magnet, and is configured to sense changes of magnetic flux of the magnet, and thereby identify which shift position the rotary knob is in.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-020922 (JP 2014-020922 A), corresponding to US 2014/0020495 A1, discloses a vehicular shift apparatus which includes a shift lever as an operation member provided with a magnet, and a plurality of sensing elements facing the magnet, wherein the sensing elements are arranged in a line along a trajectory of the magnet, as shown in FIGS. 14 to 19. When the shift lever is moved from one shift position to an adjacent shift position, the magnet moves by a distance corresponding two sensing elements, and one sensing element remains in on-state, and another sensing element shifts from on-state into off-state, and another sensing element shifts from off-state into on-state. Based on combination of outputs of the sensing elements, operation of the shift lever is determined.